What You Expect Matters
Yesterday's post might seem like so many arguments about angels on pinheads.
Here's where the rubber meets the road: if you struggle with sin related to (for example) anger, envy, same sex attraction, opposite sex attraction, or substance abuse, what you believe about how God works matters.
If you are in a church in the Holiness Movement, chances are that you have heard something to this effect:
What you expect to happen when you are entirely sanctified matters.
When we use language for inherited depravity like "stump" or "heart of stone," I think there's a danger that people who listen to us will expect something that God never promised to do.
If someone who struggles with fits of rage expects God to remove the "stump" of inherited depravity from their heart--that is, the thing that sin occasionally springs from--they'll probably also expect that they won't feel like having fits of rage anymore.
If someone who struggles with temptation to suicide expects God to exchange a "heart of stone" for a "heart of flesh," they may also expect that, since they don't have the stony heart anymore, they won't struggle with temptation to suicide anymore.
These are temptations to sin, right? If the corrupted "part" of your heart is removed, you might expect not to be tempted anymore.
But that's not what God promises that entire sanctification will do. He may choose to remove someone's temptation, but He does not promise to remove everyone's.
In fact, the norm is that an entirely sanctified person will still have temptations arising from their flesh (Rom. 13:14--note that Paul does not limit this admonition to "anybody who decided not to fully surrender themselves to God as a living sacrifice like I told you to in 12:1").
But the norm is also that every believer is able not to fulfill the strong desires of the flesh. How? Because the norm for believers is walking in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-24).
Here's where the rubber meets the road: if you struggle with sin related to (for example) anger, envy, same sex attraction, opposite sex attraction, or substance abuse, what you believe about how God works matters.
If you are in a church in the Holiness Movement, chances are that you have heard something to this effect:
When you get saved, the "tree" of sin in your heart is chopped down, so it stops bearing fruit (acts of sin), but the "stump" is still there. If the stump is allowed to remain, new shoots of sin will pop up from it occasionally. To walk steadily with God, not falling into sin periodically, God will have to remove the stump by entirely sanctifying you.
What you expect to happen when you are entirely sanctified matters.
When we use language for inherited depravity like "stump" or "heart of stone," I think there's a danger that people who listen to us will expect something that God never promised to do.
If someone who struggles with fits of rage expects God to remove the "stump" of inherited depravity from their heart--that is, the thing that sin occasionally springs from--they'll probably also expect that they won't feel like having fits of rage anymore.
If someone who struggles with temptation to suicide expects God to exchange a "heart of stone" for a "heart of flesh," they may also expect that, since they don't have the stony heart anymore, they won't struggle with temptation to suicide anymore.
These are temptations to sin, right? If the corrupted "part" of your heart is removed, you might expect not to be tempted anymore.
But that's not what God promises that entire sanctification will do. He may choose to remove someone's temptation, but He does not promise to remove everyone's.
In fact, the norm is that an entirely sanctified person will still have temptations arising from their flesh (Rom. 13:14--note that Paul does not limit this admonition to "anybody who decided not to fully surrender themselves to God as a living sacrifice like I told you to in 12:1").
But the norm is also that every believer is able not to fulfill the strong desires of the flesh. How? Because the norm for believers is walking in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-24).
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